


Being Half Beast

by Clarakluk



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: AU, F/M, M/M, and Nico has ram's horns, half-bloods have animal traits, like Annabeth has owl wings...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 06:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2570924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clarakluk/pseuds/Clarakluk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU – when a half-blood is born, they are unlike other children. They take trail after their parents' sacred animals.</p><p>Percy Jackson is allergic to water. Or, that's what his mother had told him once. Because Percy, being the son of Poseidon, will turn half dolphin when he comes in contact with his father's element – which creates some quite awkward moments, so it was a bit easier for a lone mother to just make up an allergy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Being Half Beast

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fibber – a friend of mine ;)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Fibber+%E2%80%93+a+friend+of+mine+%3B%29), [Kitshunette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitshunette/gifts).
  * Inspired by [this drawing :3](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/81629) by Kitshunette. 



> Hi! I had written this a long time ago, but haven't had the time or motivation to continue, so I'll just post it (because it's still been a lot of hard work) and maybe continue it sometime...
> 
> Btw, this was inspired by this drawing by Kitshunette: http://40.media.tumblr.com/9ed503a03ebb8c4a6c4887229d08615b/tumblr_n2dnqhYVcr1r02suro1_500.png
> 
> Oh well, I hope you'll like it!

Percy’s POV

Percy was confused – which, to be fair, wasn’t a new thing, though this time, it was more than normal.

First of, he was quite sure he’d turned his former math teacher into an exploding sandcastle.

Secondly, his best friend turned out to be half goat.

Thirdly, his Latin teacher turned out to be a centaur, who had used a magic wheelchair to pass as human on Percy’s old school.

And fourthly – and quite the most confusing part – he found out why his mother had always held him away from any kind of water.

When Percy was little, he’d been diagnosed with _aquagenic urticarial_ , meaning he was allergic to water. His mother had gone out of her way to never let him come in contact with any kind of water, especially salt water. It’s a hell when it rained, because Percy was never allowed outside to play with the other kids puddles on the road or in the gardens. Even such simple things as taking a bath, or wash his hands, had to be done carefully with some kind of special soap his mom had gotten from the doctor.

But then Percy arrived at camp and discovered something even freakier than allergy of water. It happened when the girl from the Ares cabin with the tusks in the corners of her mouth – trying to take revenge for not getting to stop his head down in the toilet – ended up pushing him down in the river under a game of Capture the Flag.

At first nothing happened (his clothes didn’t even get wet) but then pain shot up through his legs and, after falling on his bum down in the river, a couple of seconds later he was staring at a shiny, green dolphin-like tail where his legs should have been.

Clarisse, the Ares girl, had seemed to be just as surprised as him by this. Backing up slowly, she muttered under her breath, “It can’t be possible. He can’t be the one,” whatever that meant.

Then she seemed to recover, because she began laughing. Two of her siblings – tusks sticking out of their mouths too – arrived when they heard her. When they looked confused at her, she pointed down on Percy who was still sitting in the river, staring at his tail, and said, “Look! The punk is half fish!”

That had smacked Percy out of his trance, anger boiling up in him. The river responded to it, and soon it had risen out of its bed and grabbed the three Ares kids, leaving Percy sitting on the sandy bottom under a huge water arch. Clarisse was screaming curses down at him, about to slash the water with her electrical spear, but her brother stopped her with a, “It’s water, you’ll just end up electrocuting us all!”

“Then get us down, you ridiculous pig!” Clarisse screamed back at him, then continued her stream of curses at Percy.

“Clarisse,” Percy called up. “Dolphins aren’t fishes, they are mammals!” More swearing reached his ears.

It had only taken a couple of minutes before the other campers finally heard Clarisse’s swearing and came to see what the problem was. The first one to arrive was Annabeth, her silvery-gray owl wings fluttering behind her, as she stopped a moment to take in the scene with Clarisse and her siblings twenty feet over the ground, the river running uphill without a hill, and Percy in the empty riverbed with a dolphin tail.

“Uh… Okay,” was all she’d said, then climbed down to help Percy. After a lot of cursing from her side, because Percy wasn’t to much help (“How can I help, I haven’t got any legs!”), she finally managed to pull him up in the grass. There they sat together as enjoyed the show until the rest of the campers arrived.

Chiron came trotting in as the last one, frowning a bit at the cursing Ares kids. Then his old eyes fell on Percy, who still had a dolphin tail.

“My boy, what happened here?” he asked the confused twelve-year-old on the grass.

“Uh… I was guarding the boarder when Clarisse attacked me and ended up pushing me into the river. Then my legs turned into this–” he flopped his new tail “– and the river exploded at snatched her up together with the two others while they where busy laughing at me,” Percy told him.

Chiron nodded thoughtfully.

“Will I get my legs back?” Percy asked.

“Yes, when you’re dry,” he answered, chuckling a bit. “But now we know who your father is.” He began to speak louder to get the other campers’ attention. “Hail Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, son of the sea god, father of horses, the Stormbringer and Earthshaker!”

It took a moment for it to sink in. Poseidon. The Greek god of the sea. Well… Funny the god of water has a son who’s allergic to it…

He must have said it out loud, because Annabeth hit him in the back head with her wing. “Seaweed Brain! Your mother said you where allergic to water because if you get wet, you transform into a fish! Seriously!”

“When you say it like that it makes sense, I guess,” Percy agreed.

He then became aware of how tired he was. His eyelids fluttered, and he yawned hugely. A slash followed, a scream, and a new stream of curses from Clarisse. The water arch had collapsed back into the riverbed, drenching the campers nearest to the shore. Clarisse and her siblings were spluttering in the middle.

Then Percy had blacked out from exhaustion.

He’d later woken up in a bed in the Poseidon cabin, relieved to find his legs back in place. When he’d gone to breakfast alone that morning, everyone had stared at him, looking like they wanted to make fun of him but scared of what his dad would do to them if they actually did. Instead, they ignored him. The only ones still talking to him were Annabeth and Grover.

So, when the quest for the lightning bolt came around (and Dionysus threatened to turn him into a complete dolphin) he was a bit relieved. Especially when he would have Grover and Annabeth at his side.

 

That’s the story about how Percy found out about his heritage and his water allergy.

Percy’s POV

A shadow flew in front of the sun above Percy’s head. He and Annabeth were sitting together on the beach, small talking and just enjoying each other’s company, until a special son of Zeus flew in and interrupted them.

“Percy!” he called and landed in front of them, his huge, white wings folding on his back. “Chiron need you at the Big House immediately,” he continued, ignoring the wicked stare from Annabeth.

“What for?” Percy asked, not really interested in leaving his girlfriend.

Jason shrugged and offered Percy his hand. “Dunno, but he wanted both of us and Nico.”

Annabeth sighed beside him. “You better go, Seaweed Brain. I have something to talk with Malcolm about anyway. You know, redesigning Olympus and so on.” She pecked his cheek, and then took off in direction of the camp. Percy was still in awe about how beautiful her silver wings looked in the sun.

Jason nudged his shoulder. “Wanna walk or hitch a ride?” he asked, a sly grin on his face.

Percy snorted. “Like I want to be blasted to bits by your father. Wait, why are you wearing a toga?”

Jason looked down at his white toga and shrugged. “Had a praetor meeting by Iris message earlier this morning.”

“You have to wear toga even if it’s just an Iris message?” Percy asked, his eyebrows raised in amazement, and Jason nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m glad I’m not praetor anymore,” Percy joked, and then took of toward the Big House. Jason followed.

Together, they walked across Camp, nodding to the bypassing campers. When they arrived, Nico di Angelo was already sitting on the porch between Chiron and Mr. D. His gloomy expression told Percy that he’d been waiting for them for a while now. He was wearing his usual black jeans and t-shirt, though this was plain black, none of his usual skeletons on. The ram horns on either side of his face had grown longer since the last time he’d seen him. His black gaze bored into Percy before looking grumpily up in the sky as if trying to stare down Zeus.

“I found him. What’s the urgent matter?” Jason asked.

Chiron looked up from his pinochle cards and smiled at them. “Good. A satyr has found three half-bloods in Jacksonville. I need you to get them.”

Percy groaned and dumped down in the chair beside Nico. “Again?”

Mr. D snorted. “Paul Jonson–”

“How many times to I have to say that my name is Percy Jackson?”

“Whatever, you– Ha!” he exclaimed, interrupting himself, and laid down his cards. “I win!”

Chiron smiled amused. “Not quite, I’m afraid.” He showed Dionysus his cards, and the latter huffed in irritation. Then Chiron turned back to the three boys. “A pack of _Vrykolakas_ has been spotted near the school, and it will take all of you together to defeat them.”

Percy frowned. “Vri-cola-kas? What in Hades does that mean?”

Nico shot him an irritated look. “Vrykolakas are vampire werewolves – undead werewolves that drinks the blood of sheep and small children.”

Jason whistled behind them. “Well, we better get going then…”

Percy looked around the table, and then groaned in defeat. “Fine. Let me just say goodbye to Annabeth.”

 

He found her in her cabin leaning over a blueprint at one of the desks. The cabin door was open, so he just walked in without knocking, placing his hands on her hips from behind.

“What are you doing?” he whispered in her ear.

Annabeth startled so bad that she ended up pushing Percy down on the floor with her wings.

“Percy!” she exclaimed irritated and glared down at him.

“Sorry,” he said grinning and got to his feet again.

She glared at him for a moment more, then huffed. “What did Chiron want?”

“He’s sending Jason, Nico and I on a quest to Jacksonville.” Percy watched her reaction closely as he spoke.

Annabeth nodded. “Fine, let me just pack my things, then–”

“Annie,” Percy interrupted her, and retrieved a glare at the nickname. “Please? I’ll be home before you know of it. Okay?”

He stepped forward and placed his hands on her hips, leaning down so their noses touched. After another moment, Annabeth sighed and closed the distance between their lips.

“If you aren’t coming back unharmed…” she threatened after she pulled away. Percy smirked at her, kissing her nose.

“I will,” he promised.

“Then go. The others are waiting.” She kissed him one last time, then turned back to her blueprints.

“See you in a bit,” Percy called after her as he walked out of the cabin.

Jason and Nico were standing outside, talking quietly with each other.

“You guys ready to go?” Percy called as he walked over to them. They both stopped talking and nodded. Percy noted that Nico’s cheeks were red. “How are we going to get there?”

Jason began, “It’s at the coast, so I was thinking that you could swim while I flew with Nico–”

“No,” Nico interrupted. “I’m not leaving the ground. U-Uh.”

“Nico, it’s either with me in the air, and Percy in the sea…” Jason gave Nico a suggestive look that Percy didn’t really understand. Nico for that matter seemed to understand perfectly fine, because his face turned even redder so it was now tomato-colored from his neck to his ram-horns, and he got a face-expression that suggested that he had very mixed feelings about this.

“Can’t I just shadowtravel there?” Nico asked in a small voice, but both Percy and Jason shook their heads.

“We need you at you full strength when we arrive,” Percy said. “You’re our best weapon against the monsters.”

Nico glared at him –why did everyone have to do that?– like he had a good point but was on the wrong side. Then the youngest of the three sighed in defeat and crossed his arms.

“Fine. But I will rather go with Percy. I’m trusting Poseidon more than Zeus not to kill me.”

Percy beamed at him. “Let’s go then!”

They walked down to the beach, and when they arrived, Percy tugged off his t-shirt and tossed it on the ground. Nico quickly averted his eyes, instead fixing his gaze on the sea.

“Percy, why do you take off your shirt?” Jason asked mystified, frowning a bit at him.

Percy sent him an odd look. “Because it’s pretty difficult to swim with clothes on?”

Jason thought for a moment then shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat, man.”

Percy rolled his eyes at the pun and grabbed Nico’s hand. Quickly Nico pulled away and glared at him. Percy raised his hands in surrender.

“Dude, I just thought you would like me to keep you dry!”

Nico scowled. “Then warn me next time. I don’t like being touched.”

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry! Can I take your hand now so you won’t get wet?”

Nico’s scowl deepened, but he held out his hand for Percy to take. Together they walked out into the water while Jason set off from the beach and soared up in the sky.

Percy’d only taken a couple of steps when a now recognizable pain shot up his legs and made him stumble. Then his legs began to transform and this time he fell for real, dragging Nico down with him.

“Umph,” Nico said as he hit the surface. He sat up and rubbed his forehead with the hand that wasn’t holding Percy’s. “Not the smartest, Percy.”

Percy just laughed. “Why do you think Annabeth keeps calling me Seaweed Brain?”

“Well, I suppose she’s right,” Nico admitted, a small smirk forming on his face. Percy slashed water on him with his now-fully-transformed tail.

“But because I'm such a Seaweed Brain, you’ll have to drag me out into the less shallow waters.”

Nico stared at the other boy like he couldn’t believe the idiocy coming out of his mouth.

“Percy Jackson, you have to be the least thoughtful demigod of all times.” Nico rose to his feet and grabbed Percy’s other hand.

“You actually seem to have a lot in common with Annabeth,” Percy grinned. “Especially if it’s about me.”

For one another reason, Nico’s cheeks flared up again, his eyes averting. Behind him, Jason swooped down and hovered just above the surface.

“You coming?” he asked grinning.

Nico scowled. “I need to get Fish Face here out onto the deeper waters because he doesn’t have enough brain cells to keep the water from transforming him before he was out where he could swim.”

He tugged harshly in Percy’s arms, but his tail weighted too much for him to just drag him out in one long motion. Jason came closer and took one of Percy’s hands from Nico, and together they dragged their cousin out in the water.

“You know,” Percy said thoughtfully as they pulled in him, “I’ve never been called Fish Face before… Annabeth calls me Seaweed Brain, and Thalia likes the nickname Kelp Head. But I guess my closest friends have to come up with their own nicknames for me, right?” He grinned up at Nico, who’s face had become completely red again. Then he turned his eyes to Jason, a smirk on his face.

“What will your nickname for be then?”

Jason got a thoughtful expression. “What about Mr. Oblivious?”

Nico shot him a glare so cold that any other demigod or monster – even the gods – would run away from him, screaming in terror. Jason, though, hardly seemed to notice, and neither did Percy, who just grinned, completely oblivious. Ah, the irony of the Fates.

“That’s a lame nickname Jason,” he said, and Jason yanked him a little harder.

 

 

Nico’s POV

Finally, they were long enough away from the coast for Percy to move his tail without hitting the bottom. The water was reaching Nico to his waist. Both him and Jason let go of their fishy cousin’s arms at the same time, which was a mistake from Nico’s side. His black jeans was immediately drenched, the same with the hem of his t-shirt.

“For Hades sake…” he muttered, which was answered with a spluttering laughter from Jason. Nico scowled up at the flying blond, and fast as lightning he grabbed his sandaled foot and pulled him into the water.

Percy exploded into laughter when Jason submerged again, his clothes and wings drenched with saltwater. “Oh my gods! Look at your face! Haha! Nico, that was genius!”

His tail flopped in the water, drenching the two others even more.

Jason on the other hand looked furious. “Nico! You’ve made my wings wet! How am I supposed to fly with wet wings?”

Nico shrugged. “You could just have stopped laughing at me.”

Jason was about to retort when Percy broke in. “Guys, guys,” he wiped tears from his eyes, still chuckling, “don’t worry, I’ve got it.”

He took Jason’s hand and steam erupted from the winged boy. When it disappeared, Jason was completely dry again, his wings flapping at the lightness of the disappeared water.

“See?” Percy said, still holding his hand, “no harm done. Now up you go.”

Jason set off from the ocean bottom, and only let go of Percy’s hand when he was completely out of the water. Then Percy held out his hand for Nico to take. Hesitantly Nico did, and soon his trousers and t-shirt were dry again.

“Let’s get going, shall we?” Percy asked smiling, and Nico nodded. “Then climb up on my back.” When Nico protested, Percy raised his eyebrow and patiently said, “I can’t hold an air bubble all the way to Jacksonville from here, so get up if you want to be able to breathe. This way Jason is also sure to see us.”

Reluctantly Nico agreed and moved behind Percy, still gripping his hand.

“Ready to go kill some undead werewolves?” Jason asked from above and swooped down to hoover just out of Nico’s reach. “We’ve already used too much time here, and there’s at least two and a half hours flight down there – probably longer to swim.”

Percy ducked his head above water, snorting. “Jason, I can swim a lot faster than you can fly.”

“Oh really? I don’t think so.”

“Let the contest begin. Nico hold on tight, this is going to be fun.”

“One, two, three!” Jason shot forward, his wings moving with incredible strength. Percy dived under the surface and began swimming.

Nico gripped hard in Percy’s shoulders, but it wasn’t enough. If he wanted to keep on Percy’s back for more than two minutes, he needed to wrap his legs around the other boy’s waist. Oh gods, why?

Saltwater sprayed up in Nico’s eyes, keeping him from seeing anything. Once he heard the sound of a speedboat, but with the speed Percy set, they had passed it in seconds.

Nico could feel Percy’s muscles working underneath his fingers and with his legs. Oh gods. Why did he have to be this muscular? And why did he have to be this oblivious? Since Jason found out, he’d been pestering Nico to confess and get it out of his system, because ‘to move forward, you have to deal with the obstacles’, as he’d phrased it. Finally, Nico had agreed to try to be friendly to Percy at least, become better friends with him. Then maybe he could tell him that he wasn’t exactly straight…

But Nico still hadn’t accepted that part of himself yet. Still, sitting on the back of Percy, feeling his muscles work underneath his skin and scales… Sorry, but as a seventeen-year-old teenage boy, Nico had a very horny mind, and Percy wasn’t exactly doing things easier. Especially since he didn’t even have a shirt on at the moment. Seriously?

Nico was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt Percy slowing down. The water stopped splashing quite so much in his eyes, so he was finally able to blink them open. What he saw shocked him so utterly he almost lost his grip in Percy. The landscape had changed from the cold, early spring in New York to the too hot spring in Florida.

Sandy beaches lined the coast. Along most, Nico was able to see multicolored parasols dotting the white sand. Small beach houses lined up a little inland, and, behind them, old industrial buildings towered up.

“This is Jacksonville?” Nico asked confused. “I’d thought it to be more… modern?”

Percy laughed. “This is just the beach. We have to go up the river to get to the city centrum.”

“Okay…” Then something a thought popped into Nico’s head. “Where’s Jason?”

Percy laughed again. “Long behind. Lost sight of him about a hundred miles from camp.”

“Wait, how fast have you swum?” Nico asked wide-eyed.

Percy turned around under Nico to look up at him, which resulted to Nico now sitting on Percy’s stomach, just where the scales began. He had a thinking look in his eyes. “Well, we’ve swum nine hundred and fifty-eight point seven miles in about sixty-six minutes. So that equals…”

“…You’ve swum eight hundred and seventy-two miles per hour?!”

Percy blinked up at him, as if surprised by Nico’s surprise. “Roughly, yes. I think. My math sucks. I just used the currents and my powers to give us some extra push.”

“Some extra–… I can't believe it.” Nico shook his head.

Percy grinned. “Well, then don’t. But we’re here and we’ll have to wait for about an hour for Jason to get here, so we could as well just swim to the beach?”

Nico nodded, so Percy turned again and began to swim towards the shore.

 

When they came closer, Nico spotted a sign that read: Welcome To Neptune Beach. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Of course the city, whose name is the same as _his_ last name, would have a beach called Neptune. It wouldn’t surprise him, if the lifeguard’s name were Percy, or if he had green eyes and black hair...

Percy swam as close to the shore as he could, and from then, Nico had to pull him up on the beach by himself. It took him almost half an hour to do so, and when he finally had Percy pulled all the way up, he collapsed on the sand, panting.

“How… How can you weight that much?” Nico inquired when he’d gained his breath again. Percy just grinned and shrugged, leaning back on his hands, his face turned upwards toward the sun.

“Guess scales are heavy… Or maybe because I’ve got so many muscles– Ow!” Percy rubbed the back of his head where Nico’d just hit him. “What was that for?”

“You being an irritating, self-centered, oblivious bastard,” Nico said blankly and sat down beside him.

Percy frowned, looking a bit hurt, and asked, “you think I'm self-centered?”

Biting his lip, Nico refused to look at the other boy. “No. I’m just edgy today. Sorry.”

Percy nodded, and then, after a moment, nudged his shoulder. “Hey, cheer up man. It’s a great day today.”

Nico scowled at him. “We are about to face a pack of undead werewolves to save a couple of kids from getting killed and have their blood drunk. You call that a great day?”

Raising an eyebrow at his tone, Percy considered it. Then he said, “Could be worse,” to Nico’s eternal irritation. He had to see so bright on everything.

“Like what?” Nico didn’t even try to hide his irritation.

Percy smirked. “We could have been attacked on our way here – or in a moment – or Jason could have won, or we–”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Nico sighed, then searched the horizon for any signs of Jason. “When will you be able to walk again?”

“Uhm, a second,” Percy said, and when Nico looked surprised over at him, he already had his legs back, though he still hadn’t a shirt on. Nico could feel his cheeks heat up.

“Uh… what about your shirt? You left it at camp.”

Percy looked down, like as if he had forgotten he wasn’t wearing one, and then shrugged. “I’ll survive. It’s warm enough anyway.”

 _Oh no you don’t_ , Nico thought annoyed. “It would be harder to wound you if you had clothes on,” he tried to reason.

“Hmm…” Percy seemed to consider it. “You may be right, though where should I get a t-shirt from? I don’t have any money.”

Nico glared at him. “You should always have money with in your backpack, both drachmas and mortal money. You’re lucky Jason and I packed your backpack. There is a plastic bag of money in the bottom. Seriously Percy, I feel like I'm the one who are the hardcore veteran and you’re the newbie here.”

Percy stuck his tongue out at him. Nico just watched him, completely unimpressed. “You see what I mean?” he said, and Percy pouted again.

“Aw, come on Neeks–”

“Don’t call me that,” Nico snapped.

“–maybe there are some stores up in the city?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “No Percy. There are no stores in a city as huge as Jacksonville where one can buy a cheap t-shirt. Not at all.”

“Hey, no need to be sarcastic,” Percy grinned.

Nico raised an eyebrow at him. “You are one to talk, huh?”

To his surprise, a red tinge spread across Percy’s cheeks, though he didn’t answer.

Nico was about to make another snarky comment when a shadow blocked out the sun, and seconds later Jason landed in the sand, panting a bit.

The blond turned to Percy and pointed at him. “You. Fucking. Cheater.”

And Percy being Percy just said, “The golden boy uses cuss words? Oh my, the worlds gonna end!”

Jason punched his arm, and then flopped down beside them. “So, what now?”

“Don’t know. We figured we would wait for you before making plans,” Percy shrugged.

“Fair enough,” Jason turned to Nico, “would you be able to tell where they are?”

Nico closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, searching for the place with most death. “Centrum. Just of the banks of the river.”

When he opened his eyes again, he just caught Percy and Jason nodding to each other.

“Let’s go then,” Percy said and stood up.

“Percy,” Jason said, frowning a bit. “You haven’t got a shirt on.”

Percy looked surprised down as if he had forgotten again. “Oh, that’s right. Nico and talked about finding a store longer upriver. I can’t swim with it anyways.”

Nico frowned at him. “You plan to swim in _that_ river? I don’t think it’s much better than New Yorks’.”

Percy just shrugged and grinned. “I take it you fly with Jason there?”

“Yes. I am not going into that river. That’s too disgusting.” Nico rose to his feet and brushed the sand off his pants.

“Okay, then lets go. But Perce, go slow this time,” Jason said, grinning a bit. Percy grinned too and gave him a thumbs up, then ran out into the water with a, “I’ll follow!”

Nico was just about to yell that he should remember to keep himself dry when the water around Percy shied away from him, and he grinned over his shoulder at Nico and Jason, tapping his index finger to the side of his head, as if to say, _see! I remembered!_

Nico rolled his eyes, then turned to Jason, who was standing up and brushing sand out of his toga. He threw him a mischievous smirk.

“So, how was it to ride Percy?” he asked in a tone that would have been innocence, if he hadn’t been for his smirk.

“Jason,” Nico warned, trying to fight down the blush spreading on his cheeks, “Stop if you don’t want a stygian blade in your gut.”

Jason grinned and held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. I’ll shut my mouth.”

“Thank you.” Nico walked over, and Jason laid his arms around him.

“Ready?” When Nico nodded, Jason spread his wings and swept into the sky. Nico closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look down.

 

 

“So…” Jason said after a moment. “Are you going to tell him?”

Nico sighed and thought about acting like he didn’t understand, but he knew Jason would see through that in zero time. “No, and I never will. I’ve already told you! He’s with Annabeth and has been that in over _three years_! You don’t just break up after that. I don’t stand a chance and you know it.”

Nico still had his eyes closed, but he knew Jason was rolling his. “Dude, even if that’s true, you’ve got to tell him that he should stop trying to find a _girl_ friend for you.”

At those words, Nico forgot everything about his fear of falling and stared up at Jason. “He’s trying _what?!_ ”

Jason turned his blue eyes to Nico in surprise. “Wait, you didn’t know?”

Nico shook his head.

“Well,” Jason said and looked forward again, “he has. Lucky for you, he hasn’t had much progress.”

Nico bit his lip. “Why the hell is he doing that?”

Jason shrugged, shifting his gaze to the water under them, probably trying to spot Percy. “It’s Percy we’re talking about. No one knows what’s going on inside his head, except maybe–” Jason cut himself of and Nico rolled his eyes.

“Jason, you can say her name – Annabeth. And you’re right. If someone knew what was going on in Percy’s head, it would be her.”

Jason nodded, and suddenly began to decent. Nico risked a glance down to see Percy sitting on the dock, his green tail glistening in the sun. He smiled and waved at them as they came closer. Jason landed and put Nico down.

“So, what’s the plan now? How long away are we from the monsters?” Percy asked them as they sat down beside him. Two pairs of eyes turned to Nico.

“Uh,” he said, “give me a moment.” He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. He winced. “Five minutes of running, but we have to hurry. The monsters have already killed a lot of people.”

When he reopened his eyes, two determined faces met him.

“What are we wasting time on then? Let’s go!” Jason said and got to his feet.

Percy looked up at him and flopped his tail. “One problem, Jason. It’s gonna take a moment for me to get my legs back.”

Jason’s face fell for a second, then lightened up. “How long?”

“Two minutes, probably,” Percy replied with a grimace.

“I’ll fly with both of you then. You should have your legs back by the time we reach our destination.” Jason reached a hand down to help Nico up. “Okay?”

Nico nodded. “How do we do it?”

“Percy, would you be able to hold Nico by your tail?”

He got a snort as response. “He weights next to nothing. Of course I can!”

Crossing his arms protectively across his bony chest, Nico huffed. “I can hear you, you know.”

Percy nodded. “I know. I meant it as a hint for you to eat some more!” He poked Nico in his thigh.

“Let Nico be and get going!” Jason said and grabbed Percy under his arms. Slowly Percy was lifted from the ground, Jason’s wings beating powerfully in the air.

“You are a lot heavier than you seem, you know,” Jason huffed and yanked Percy a little farther up. Percy laughed. Nico really liked Percy’s laughter.

Nico yelped when Percy’s tail finally got completely off the ground, because he suddenly wrapped it around Nico’s waist, so Nico was heaved with up into the air at Jason’s next down-push.

“You’re right Percy,” Jason said, his voice a bit strained from the extra weight, “I don’t feel the extra weight of him. He really is too light.”

Laughing, Percy said, “If you with light indicates his weight, because other terms of ‘light’ doesn’t really fit.”

Nico rolled his eyes and smacked the part of Percy’s tail in front of him. “Shut up, both of you,” he sighed and closed his eyes again. “Jason, turn a little left.”

Jason did as he was told, and soon the three sons of the Big Three were zooming across the sky above Jacksonville.

 

 

"Nico, how far? My wings can't take much more," Jason managed through gritted teeth. Nico closed his eyes and concentrated.

"About two hundred feet, a little to your right," Nico shouted to be heard over the wind. Percy's tail tightened its grip in him. "How long till you turn back?"

When Nico looked up, Percy was blushing a bit. "I don't know... I should have changed by now, but something is wrong..." he answered.

"if you haven't changed back by the time we arrive, then I'll have to fly around with you. You release Nico so he can fight on the ground," Jason said.

Percy uncapped Riptide. "Alright."

Nico drew his sword too, though he was less enthusiastically than his cousins. Just the thought about Jason and Percy flying around, trying to kill the undead werewolves, made Nico face palm.

"How-" Jason was cut off by a scream.

"Guess," Nico said, and Jason dived.

Have you ever tried one of those roller coasters where you are heaved up in the air, and then suddenly fall down? Diving with Jason felt a lot like that.

Nico felt his stomach creep up his throat and his heart flutter. If Jason didn't stop the dive soon, Nico might puke. The fingers on the hand that wasn't holding his sword tried to get a hold in /something/ but the scales on Percy's tail were too slick.

Finally, Jason spread his wings out again, slowing their fall, but now instead of the wind rushing by, the air was filled with screams. Nico looked down.

Mortals were running around like beheaded chickens, wolf-like creatures chasing them. There were maybe seven monsters all in all, though they were as fast as lightning.

As Nico watched, one of the Vrykolakas grabbed a woman by the arm and threw her more than fifty yards. She landed on the pavement with a sickening crouch. A little girl, six or seven years old, screamed and ran to the woman, but the wolf was just behind.

Without thinking, Nico hammered his free hand down in Percy's tail, which released him into a free fall towards the pavement. The Vrykolakas ran in under him, just before Nico landed, and he brought down his sword. The wolf disintegrated just before its jaws closed around the girl.

"Are you hurt?" Nico asked her. Tears were streaming down her face as she cradled the woman. She didn't look up, just continued to cry and mumble, "Mommy, mommy wake up."

Nico didn't know what to do. The girl's mother was beyond help, her life force already completely gone. He knelt down beside the girl.

"Sweetheart, please. Come with me, let me protect you, okay?" He tried to talk as soothingly as possible, but the girl still didn't react. The screams behind him continued. As gently as possible, Nico lifted the mother out of her daughter’s arms and grabbed the girl.

She started screaming and calling out for her mother, kicking at him. "Let me down! I need to save my mother!"

Nico ran towards the nearest building and eased the crying girl down. "I'm sorry, this will hurt a bit, but it's for your best," he told her, and tapped her forehead. Instantly the girls body event still, and she slumped down against Nico. He just hoped he would be able to wake her again.

Making sure she was well out of the way, Nico turned around and ran towards the nearest scream. He shadow travelled in front of the Vrykolakas, his sword out, just as it ran directly toward a group of children. The monster ran directly into Nico's sword and disintegrated with a confused and surprised howl.

Nico whirled around to the next monster and saw Jason swooping down, Percy still in his arms, and dropped the latter down on the back of a monster. Its legs gave out from the extra weight Percy provided, and crashed down into the concrete. Percy brought down his sword and the monster disintegrated just as Jason swooped down again and grabbed their fishy cousin.

"How many left?" Nico yelled as they flew overhead.

"Two, fifty yards this way!" Percy yelled. Nico ran into a wall and shadow travelled.

Just as he reemerged, he stumbled over an overturned trashcan and landed hard on the ground, twisting his sword hand. Nico began cursing in Greek. Just his luck.

Nico got up, his sword in his left hand, his right cradled to his chest, he looked around for the monster - and almost bumped his nose into it. The wolf was standing right before him, its teeth barred.

Its breath smelled of rotten meat, and blood was dripping from its muzzle.

"Oh," Nico said, his voice too small for his liking. "There you are."

The monster growled in agreement. Then it did something that surprised Nico, it talked.

"Yes," it agreed, it's voice deep and rumbling, "here I am. And you smell good, a tasty half blood."

The Vrykolakas barred its teeth in what Nico assumed was a grin.

Slowly, oh so slowly, Nico tightened his fingers around his sword. It felt awkward to hold it in his left hand, but he would have to manage.

"Why haven't you killed me then?" Nico asked, making his voice sound as weak as possible, though it wasn't hard.

The monster growled again. "I'm sorry. My mama told me not to play with my food. I'll stop."

With a howl, it lunged and Nico swung his sword. He felt its jaws close around his bad arm and yank.

Nico cried out in pain and swung again, this time hitting the Vrykolakas in the shoulder. The creature released him with a grunt and backed up a little.

Taking no chances in strolling time, Nico jammed his sword down in the ground. A huge crack appeared under the wolf and sucked it down with a last howl. The last Nico saw of it was its glowing red eyes that were filled with hatred.

Nico crumbled to the ground, completely exhausted. He let himself rest a couple of moments before struggling back on his feet. He had to wake up the little girl. Hobbling towards the nearest shadow, he summoned all of his energy to a last shadow travel.

He stumbled a bit when he reemerged, but kept on his feet. The girl was lying a few feet away. Nico walked over and fell to his knees beside her, closing his eyes and placing his uninjured hand on her forehead.

After a few long seconds, he felt her stir under his hand. He let out a breath and opened his eyes. The girl was staring up at him, her blue eyes searching his face.

"My mother is dead, isn't she?" she asked, taking Nico back a little, "it wasn't just a bad dream?"

Nico hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I wasn't fast enough."

The girl have him a small smile. "You did what you could." Then she noticed that his arm was bleeding from the bite. "You're hurt!"

She quickly sat up and grabbed his arm, beginning to push his jacket off.

"Uh," Nico said shocked and tried to pull his jacket back on. "Don't worry, I'll manage," he said, but the girl was insistent. She finally managed to push away his hand and his jacket down to get a look on the wound. It was bad, Nico could tell.

"Does it hurt much?" she asked as she cautiously touched it.

Nico winced. "Have tried worse."

The blonde girl nodded and placed her whole hand over the wound. Nico frowned when she closed her eyes. "What are you-"

He cut himself off when her hand began to glow a warm, golden glow. He felt a pickling on his skin, and after a moment when the girl had removed her hand, he took a look on the wound. That weren't there anymore.

"How did you- Do you know who your dad is?" Nico asked, an idea suddenly popping into his head.

The girl gave him a mystified look, though she shook her head. "He left before I was born."

Nico smiled to her. "I think I know who he is."

The girl's eyes widened, and she was about to say something when someone behind them yelled, "NICO!!"

Said boy turned around to face Jason who was running towards them. When he reached them, panting quite a lot, Nico frowned, "Why aren't you flying?"

Jason glared halfheartedly and extended his wings. The left one was bent in a weird angle, the white and golden feathers covered in blood. "Broken."

"And Percy?"

"Somewhere over there-" Jason gestured from the way he'd come, "-he's still not gotten his legs back."

Then he seemed to notice the girl beside Nico who was staring up at Jason in awe. "Who's that?" he asked.

"Jason this is- uh, what's your name?" Nico asked the blonde girl.

"Illiosa," she said, tearing her eyes off Jason's wings, "Illiosa Jackson."

Nico rolled his eyes inwardly. Of course she had _that_ last name.

Jason grinned, probably thinking the same. "My name is Jason Grace. Nice to meet you."

Illiosa looked over at Nico uneasily. Then her yes flicked to the side of his head as if she just now noticed his horns. "You– what _are_ you?"

"We are demigods," Nico said calmly. "And I'm quite sure you are too."

Illiosa stared at him. " _Gods_?"

"Demigods," Nico corrected. "Half god half mortal. My dad is Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld. His secret animal is the ram, therefore I have these," Nico tapped his horns. "I would guess your dad is Apollo, the God of Sun, Music, Prophecies, and Medicine. A lot of his children have healing powers like the ones you just used on my arm.

"Plus, your name. If you take away the A, it means sun in Ancient Greek."

Jason knelt down beside Nico so he could look the girl in the eyes too. "How old are you, sweety?" he asked.

"Seven," Illiosa answered, her voice hardening. "But I'm not a little child. Don't go all fuzzy on me."

Jason laughed and turned to Nico. "She reminds me of you."

Nico scowled and Jason laughed again. Then he rose and held a hand down to Illiosa. "Promise."

Illiosa glared skeptically at Jason's hand, but ended up taking it and let him help her to her feet. "There you go. Now let's find our fishy friend, shall we?"

Nico and tried to stand up, but the world suddenly started spinning, and he fell on his butt, clutching his head. A strong hand grabbed his arm.

"Nico, you alright?" Jason asked.

Nico nodded. "Empty on energy," he admitted weakly.

Jason hauled him to his feet and slung Nico's arm across his shoulders. "I've got you," though Nico could hear the pain in Jason's voice, probably because of his broken wing.

Illiosa must have heard it too, because she said, "I'll help," and walked behind Jason, placing both of her small hands on his wing. Jason winced in pain, but didn't protest.

As Nico watched him, Jason's face relaxed, and after a moment, Illiosa stepped in front of them again, and Jason stretched his wings.

With a big smile on his face he bowed the best he could to the small girl with Nico still clinging to him, and said, "I'm very thankful for that, Sun. To show my gratitude, may I take you for a flight?"

Nico's eyes widened, and he was about to protest that, /no, he was not going on another flying trip with Jason/, but then he saw the awe in Illiosa's eyes, and he shut his mouth.

"Yes!" the girl squealed and grabbed Jason's outstretched hand. He grinned and lifted her up on his arm, his other tightening around Nico, and set off from the ground.

Even over the wind rushing by, Nico was able to hear Illiosa's delighted shouting.

Just for show-off, Jason made a loop in the air before diving toward the pavement under them at highest possible speed. Nico's eyes watered from the winds.

He could spot Percy's green tail on the pavement under them. He was sitting in the middle of a plaza, waving up at them.

Soon Jason landed beside him, a blonde girl staring open mouthed at Percy's tail, in his arms.

"He's half fish!" Illiosa exclaimed and pointed on Percy, who laughed.

"Yeah, something is blocking my power to get my legs back..." he explained the girl. "What's your name?"

"Illiosa Jackson," she answered as Jason sat her down so she could get closer to Percy, whose eyebrows shot up.

"Jackson? Huh. My name is Percy Jackson."

Illiosa blinked and knelt down beside him. "Can I touch it?" She pointed at his tail.

Percy laughed and flopped it. "Of course. If you dare."

Surprise crossed Illiosa's face, then it changed to determination. She pressed her little hand against the scales. Surprise filled her features again as she slowly slit her hand over them.

"It's soft," she said, "and dry."

Percy nodded with a smile. "You are a brave little one, aren't you? Yes, and usually when I'm dry, I have human legs, but something is wrong."

"I don't feel anything wrong," Illiosa said. "There's nothing to heal."

Percy sent the two others a confused glance.

"We assume Illiosa here is a daughter of Apollo, since she has healing powers, and because of her name," Nico explained.

Percy searched Illiosa's face. "She does look a bit like Apollo."

"You've met the sun god?!" Illiosa exclaimed, and Percy laughed again.

"Yeah. Jason's big sister, Thalia, has driven the sun chariot. I weren't old enough." Percy grumbled the last part, his arms crossed over his chest.

Jason snickered behind his hand.

"But," Percy continued, "Apollo is one of the only gods I like. A lot of the others are a bunch of-"

Nico clamped his hand over Percy's mouth. "Okay, you don't like them, we get that. Now, on with the story."

He glared down at Percy, sending him a meaningful stare; _don't talk like that in front of children!_

Percy smirked under his hand, and Nico jerked it away when something wet touched his palm. "Did you just _lick my hand_?!"

Percy shrugged. "Maybe."

"Why do I feel like Illiosa is way more mature than the two of you together?" Jason wondered out loud to no one in particular.

Percy laughed as usual, and Nico glared. As usual.

"Uh," Percy said, suddenly serious. "Where we supposed to get all three half-bloods, or just protect them? Because if it's the first case, we need to find them..."

"Good question, Percy," Jason said, and looked like he was going to continue, but then frowned instead. "I can't believe I just said that."

Percy smirked. "Yup. You did."

"Grace," Nico groaned, "your plan?"

"Yeah, right." Jason rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "So, I thought that we have to split up. Nico, you don't have the energy to shadow-travel, so it's again with either Percy or me. The other will take Illiosa. When we get to camp, we'll ask Chiron if we need to go back and get the two others."

Nico turned to the girl. "It's up to you, do you want to swim with Percy, or fly with Jason?"

Illiosa looked between both boys, then decided, "Jason. I want to fly more!”

"Great! Then let's go!" Percy grinned enthusiastically up at Nico, who frowned at him.

"And how are you going to get to the water, Fish Face?" he asked and raised an eyebrow.

Percy opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again and looked at Jason. When Jason noticed Percy's questioning look, he shook his head furiously.

"Percy, no. I can't fly all of us all the way to the harbor. You will have to do on your own as a revenge for not waiting. Illiosa, ready to go?"

"Yes!" Illiosa squealed on the same time Percy said, "Hey!"

Jason bowed down, scooped Illiosa up, and then took off, leaving Nico with a stranded and irritated son of Poseidon. "What now?"

Nico sighed. "I'll have to shadow travel us into the harbor. But I warn you, I'll pass out, so be ready."

Percy nodded and reached out, as if he wanted a hug. "Come on, then. We don't want you to drown, do we?"

Nico grumbled under his breath, but went over to Percy anyways. "We need a shadow."

The nearest shadow was the trash bin ten feet away, ten feet Nico had to drag Percy in his already exhausted state. Jason's gonna pay for this.

It took almost twelve minutes, but finally Nico could use the last bit of energy he had to shadow travel the two of them to the harbor.

The last thing Nico was aware off before he lost consciousness was Percy's arms around him and the feeling of cold water.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked! I might continue this sometime, though I'm not sure...
> 
> Check out some of my other stories if you liked ;3 Have a continued good day/night/afternoon/whatever X3  
> Bye!


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